The Winter Holiday Celebration
by Princess Shania
Summary: Leonard and Penny have the apartments to themselves- with Leonard's mother! Sheldon and Amy go to Texas where Amy will finally meet Sheldon's Meemaw! Howard takes Bernadette to his Aunt Barbara's to celebrate Hannukah- along with most of Bernadette's family! Secrets will be revealed, laughter will be had, hugs will be shared, and there will be more than one drunk uncle! R&R!
1. Chapter 1

_**Leonard and Penny**_

Penny burst into Leonard and Sheldon's apartment. Upon seeing her boyfriend, she squealed with delight and threw herself into his arms.

"What are you so excited about?" Leonard tried not to laugh at the childlike happiness she was radiating.

"Leonard, it's Christmas, everybody's gone _and_ we have the apartment to ourselves! _Both_ apartments! We can do what_ever_ we want!"

"Oh, my God, you're right!"He tried to be enthusiastic, but couldn't. He had some news to tell her and wasn't sure how he could without upsetting her.

"Sweetie, what is it?"

"Penny, every year my mother visits." He tried hard to keep his voice gentle. This was bad news and to sound harsh while saying it, he was sure, would make her unhappier.

"What are you saying?"

"I couldn't deflect her. We're not going to be alone."

"Oh. OK."

"You're OK with this?"

"Leonard, she's not like other moms. She won't be all 'Use protection!' and I'm sure she'll get it that we're going to be doing things."

"She might ask us...questions."

"Whatever! I like your mom, OK? It's no biggie. When's she coming?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too, but I didn't ask you to say that. When's she coming?"

"Tomorrow night."

"Then we've got plenty of time. My boss gave me the week off, she stays until Boxing Day. It's going to be fine."

"Do you think we could start now?"

"Let's have dinner first. I'm cooking!"

"Yay.." He couldn't help smiling (despite his familiarity with her culinary skills) as he watched her humming her favourite Christmas songs as she got pasta out the cupboard. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad Christmas after all.

_**Sheldon and Amy**_

Though she kept a neutral outlook, Amy felt very excited. Sheldon was taking her to Texas for Christmas! True, it wasn't a romantic trip, but she was going to be with her boyfriend for Christmas. Beside her, Sheldon was looking out the train window and telling her about all the train trips he'd ever taken. She loved it when he used his eidetic memory. For some reason, he didn't know how sexy it was.

"Amy, I have to warn you, my mother is very religious. If she says anything disparaging about science, just ignore it. That woman is not as into logic as we are."

"Right."

"My brother is an idiot. If he makes any sleazy comments, just ignore him."

"You think he'd make sleazy comments to me?"

"Yes. You're an attractive younger woman. I don't see why he wouldn't."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. My sister is nice, I suppose, but she's not as smart as we are, so try and be patient."

"OK."

"The others are all very loud and like to get drunk. Stay away from Uncle Stumpy unless you like seeing amputated body parts."

"Uh huh."

"My Meemaw will be there. Oh, Amy, you'll love her. She's sweet, loving, she gives the best hugs, she makes the best cookies, and she's just wonderful. I can't wait for you to meet her."

"She sounds like an amazing grandmother."

"Oh, she is. She's religious, but she's willing to accept people's beliefs regardless of whether or not the fore-mentioned belief involves a deity."

"I can't wait to meet her."

She couldn't. Anyone who could put a smile like that on Sheldon's face, she wanted to meet. She reached out and timidly took his hand, wanting to feel close to him. He turned his head and gave her a surprising (and heart-stopping) -ly big smile.

"This Christmas is going to be great!" Sheldon announced happily.

Dreamily staring at the smile her boyfriend still had, Amy nodded. "I know."

_**Howard and Bernadette**_

"I can't believe your whole family is willing to stay at Aunt Barbara's for Hanukkah." Howard shook his head. "I mean, I kinda expected Joey would want to, but even Joy is going. How did you do it?"

"Oh, I have my ways." Bernadette answered, coolly.

"Why _is_ Joy going?"

"Because I told her it was time she got her head out of her ass. I told her she was narrow-minded, she disagreed and now she's coming."

"She is going to get _killed._ You do know that?"

"It serves her right for how she was at Thanksgiving."

"That's true. Hey, are the nieces and nephews coming?"

"The twins are. Katie isn't because y'know, Joy.. Micheal and Gabriel aren't because they got ill. Umm, Annette is, Johnny, Marcus and Robbie aren't because they're on a school trip. Debra isn't becuase she's still in juvie. But, Stevie and Joshua are. And Faith is pregnant, so that's six, technically, that are coming and seven that aren't."

"Awesome. That's thirteen new people for Aunt Chlo to chase around with her 'lucky' broomstick."

"I don't get it. Why is it lucky?"

"My grandfather beat off several Nazis with it. That broomstick saved his life. And his family's."

"Wow. That's amazing."

"Yeah. He was an awesome grandpa. Still is, but he's...His mind's gone. He still thinks it's World War 2. We just tell him he's in a safe-house. It's easier than telling him the truth. He won't understand."

"That's really sad."

"It is. But he tells really amazing stories. And he's such a wonderful guy."

"He sounds it. I can't wait to see him. Howie?"

"Yeah?"

"Will he mind that I'm Catholic?"

"As long as he doesn't perceive you as a threat, he won't care."

"What if he does?"

"He'll attack you with the broomstick."

"Joy's gonna get the crap beat out of her with it."

**Yes, it's a Christmas fic. Yes, it's early, but better early than late and better late than never! I hope you guys enjoy it! Was it OK when Sheldon told Amy she was 'an attractive, younger woman' or was it too much? Please tell me if it was! I promise you, people, I'll be involving Raj next chapter!**

**Love from Shania! xx**


	2. The Family Conundrum

_**Leonard and Penny**_

At 11:00pm, the phone started ringing. Leonard reached over for it. "Hello? Oh, hi, Mom. Yeah, Penny's here. Hold on."

"Hello. What time did you say you were getting me from the airport?" Beverley's dulcet tones emanated from the phone.

"About 9AM." Leonard nonchalantly answered to Penny's horror.

"Nine?!"

"Nine o'clock? Or before nine, or after nine? I wish you would be more direct when you say things, dear. It's very confusing."

"Sorry. Half past nine."

"Wonderful. I have the gift themes with me, you'll be glad to know."

"Great." Leonard said, weakly, wondering what Penny's reaction would be when she found out that she would have an essay to do for her Christmas present.

"It is, isn't it? Well, I'd better go. Goodnight."

"Have a nice flight." Penny called.

"I can't control that. Why do you insist on saying things like this?"

"Goodnight, Mother." Leonard mumbled. He pressed the 'End Call' button and relaxed.

"Nine?!" Penny asked again, incredulously.

"Just this once during the holiday, OK? I promise."

He gave her such big puppy-eyes that she was defeated. "Uhh, fine! But I'm holding you to that."

"Fair enough."

She snuggled up to him and sighed contentedly."It's so nice having you all to myself."

"It's nice having you, too."

"Hmm." She smiled up at him and stretching her neck, covered his lips with her own. "Why don't we go to bed?"

"Yeah, it's getting kinda late and we have to be up early...you weren't thinking of sleeping, were you?"

"No, I was not. Hey, I've got an idea."

"What?"

"Let's sleep in _Sheldon's_ bed!"

"Ohh, you are a _really_ _bad_ girl!"

Giggling, Penny took his hand and led him to the absent doctor's bedroom. This was going to rock.

**_Sheldon and Amy_**

"There is a short walk to the house, Amy." Sheldon warned.

"How short?"

"Half a mile."

"That's alright."

The further they walked, the more amazed Amy became. Sheldon saw her slightly parted lips and her wide eyes and felt slightly worried. "What is it?"

"It's literally a winter wonderland."

It was. There was fine frost covering the fields, sharp, glittering icicles hung from trees and thousands of miles above them, the full moon shone down, surrounded by millions of bright stars. Amy had never seen anything quite like it. It took her breath away.

"It is rather nice." Sheldon agreed.

"I envy you, growing up here."

"You're a fool to. It was hell. Purgatory at best."

"I take it you wouldn't want to live here again?"

"Never. You know how it was. I was alone here. There was no one who accepted me for believing in science more than God."

"I know." Amy replied, her heart aching to see how sad Sheldon's eyes had gone.

"The only reason that we're here now is to see Meemaw."

"Do you think your grandmother will like me?"

"Meemaw likes everyone." Sheldon seemed happy again. "Ahh, my two favourite women, spending Christmas together."

"What?" Amy hadn't really been listening.

"You and Meemaw. My two favourite women. Well, you're both women I actually speak to."

"I'm glad to know you rank me so highly."

"Of course I do. You're my girlfriend. And you're a decent scientist."

"I know."

"Ah, we're nearly there! See that smoke? That's the bonfire. We're having fireworks, I see."

"You have fireworks? Wow."

"Hmm. We also have hour-long prayers, readings from our favourite Bible passages and the men engage in drinking contests. Amy, if you would loudly forbid me from drinking so that I may retain my ego this year, that would be wonderful."

"But you don't drink."

"But, they do. Everytime I say 'no', they mock me. They won't mock me if you forbid me. "

"I see."

Sheldon stood outside the door of his childhood home. As though steeling himself, he raised his gloved hand and began knocking the door.

_**Howard, Bernadette and Raj**_

It was bedlam in Barbara's house. The older Rostenkowskis looked as though they were worried for everyone's sanity. Joy didn't look at all happy. There were little cousins darting everywhere, women loudly screeching at each other and the men seemed to be having insult competitions. Joey Rostenkowski seemed very happy about it.

"This is like that party we had when Bernie was at college!" He shouted to Howard. "Mom and Dad were out, so I invited a bunch of buddies over. It was awesome!"

At that point one of the ladies noticed that they had newcomers and promptly (and shrilly) announced, "THEY'RE HEEEEEEEERE!"

They were attacked by what seemed like 9,000,000 people. There was probably around 50 adults and around 15 children (not including the Rostenkowski grandchildren), but there was so much noise that it seemed like more.

Howard had a hold of Bernadette's hand and expertly got her away from the array of people who were headed their way.

"Whoa!" Bernadette laughed. "Your family sure is friendly."

"Oh, they're crazy. Come on, there's someone I want you to meet."

He led her upstairs and took her to a room. He lightly knocked on the door. "Grandpa? It's Howard. I brought someone to see you."

"Is it a really hot woman?"

"Yep."

"Bring her in."

Howard smiled and opened the door for her. She blinked, surprised by the darkness. Behind her, she heard Howard sigh.

"It's a safeplace. You don't need to be in the dark."

The light clicked on. In it's glow, she spotted an elderly man. He was frail, balding, but didn't really look that old. He tutted at his grandson.

"If we get bombed, I'm blaming you."

"We won't. They won't find us here."

"Hmm. Alright. Who's this?"

"This is my wife, Bernadette."

"That's a sweet name. Are you pregnant yet?"

"No."

"Ah, well. There's time, I guess. "

"Yeah."

"So, you got a sister?" the older man asked Bernadette.

"Yeah, but they're all married."

"Aw, dammit." He opened his mouth to talk to her again, but was interrupted.

"HOWARD, BERNADETTE, COME DOWN HERE TO SAY HI TO EVERYONE!"

"Dammit, Beulah." Grandpa muttered. Moving past his grandson and granddaughter-in-law, he roared, "I'M TALKING TO THEM! WAIT YOUR TURN!"

They stayed chatting to him for quite some time. Howard had been right, Grandpa was awesome. He told them story after story and dirty joke after dirty joke that the time flew and before they knew it, an hour and a half had gone by.

"We've been here, " Howard announced. "For one minute of every year of your age."

"You've been here a little longer than 20 minutes, son."

"I know. We've been here 92 minutes. That's what I was saying."

"That's really rude." Howard's grandfather scolded. "I don't know where you get it from."

Bernadette tried not to laugh. She would have liked to have spent longer with her grandfather-in-law, but she knew that her parents wouldn't like it. Howard's mother certainly wouldn't.

"See you later, Grandpa."

"Bye, sir." Bernadette waved. She grinned at her husband. "I love your grandpa!"

"He's awesome, isn't he?"

"Yeah! Hey, is he gonna eat with us?"

"Oh, yeah. Every Hanukkah, he sits with us and makes as many people choke due to laughing so hard, that he can. Then he gets drunk and sings these really rude songs."

"This is going to be eight days of laughing, isn't it?"

**So, Howard's grandpa got a bad knock to the head and thinks it's still WWII. He's got REALLY bad Amnesia. He got it around the time it ended. So, I think that explains who 'they' are. Also, AARRGGHH! I don't know what to do at first, which is why Leonard and Penny have zilch! Sorry about that!**

**Love from Shania. xx**


	3. The Attraction Complication

_**Leonard and Penny**_

That morning, to compensate to Penny for getting her up so early, Leonard offered to let her open her Christmas gift from him early. She 'umm'-ed and 'aah'-ed for several minutes, torn between waiting until the special day itself and opening it right here and now. Eventually, she lost her patience and just peeled off a tiny corner of the starry paper. Upon seeing it was a box, her curiosity deepened and she unwrapped the whole thing to reveal a plain box. She looked at him.

"What's in it?"

"Just open it up."

"Alright."

She whipped off the lid and stared, open-mouthed at the contents. It was lingerie. But not any type of lingerie. It was black and shiny, the kind of thing a dominatrix might wear. It was very small. Too small, in fact. At the bottom were a pair of knee high black high-heeled boots. Penny didn't know what to say. Neither did Leonard.

"I didn't get you that." He said, puzzled.

"Then, what the hell?"

"I don't know, I..." And then realisation dawned on his face. "Oh, no."

"What is it?"

"Two weeks ago, the guys and I were wrapping our gifts. They were all of similar sizes. Oh, crap! You call Sheldon and I'll call Howard!"

"What about your mom?"

"OK, we pick up Mom and then we call the guys!"

**Later**

"Oh, you've given each other gifts?" Beverley asked. Walkiing over, she picked up the outfit and looked shocked. "Oh, my."

"Mom, we can explain..."

"It's alright, darling. No need. I'll explain it to you both later. I need to go unpack."

Penny groaned. "This sucks!"

"They're not answering."

"Oh, boy!" Penny muttered.

"Maybe it'll work out alright."

"I hope so." Penny sighed.

**_Sheldon and Amy_**

It was all Penny's fault, Sheldon decided. If she hadn't been such a bad influence on Amy this would never have happened. She, Amy had explained to him, had convinced Amy to go shopping with her and it had resulted in this.

"I think I'll go change now." Amy said to Mary Cooper. Sheldon had hidden himself in his room to change first and had emerged looking loin-burningly sexy in his suit. She rather nervously took out the dress Penny had gotten her to buy. It was deep purple, but it only came up to her knees and it showed off her breasts. However, it could be worn with black tights and that was what had made her buy it. It did look good on and Penny had showed her how to wear her hair up. The result was pleasing, but all the other women were well covered up even though it was warm. Still, she'd paid $70 for it, so she was going to wear it. She put on the purple high heels she'd gotten to go with it and self-consciously went back to the Cooper clan.

"Oh, sweetie, you look so nice!" Mary said, smiling broadly.

"I do? You don't think it's.."

"Oh, no! You should see what Missy's wearing."

Looking over at what she hoped to be her future sister-in-law, Amy had to agree. Missy had a black dress which barely went past her hips and was _very_ low cut. Seeing Amy, she waved at her, smiling.

"Hello." Amy greeted.

"Hi! Wow, how did Shelly get you?"

Amy smiled. Probably Missy was just being sweet. Still it was nice getting a compliment. She spied Sheldon and walked over to him. He paled when he saw her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Sheldon replied, trying to sound nonchalant. "Excuse me." He dodged past her and left the loud array of people. Shutting himself in his old room, he felt terrified. Why had he felt such a swoop in his stomach when Amy had walked over to him? Why were his palms sweaty? Was he sick? He hoped he wasn't sick. He hated getting sick. Perhaps he was getting ahead of himself (though he'd done that before and it had never bothered him). He decided his best bet would to be to call up someone in case this was an emotional repsonse. Leonard and Penny had asked him not to call them during Christmas. Supposedly they would be having coitus a lot. Raj was in India celebrating Karthikai Deepam, the Festival of Lights with his family. He didn't know if Raj would pick up. That left Howard and Bernadette. He picked a name and pressed Call.

**Howard and Bernadette**

"I thought Hanukkah had finished!" Joey shouted to his brother in law.

"It has!" Howard replied. "But we get together to open gifts and stuff."

"So, why _now_? It's the 22nd of December!"

"Because some people couldn't get here!"

"You have two Hanukkahs?"

"No. We had the real one at the right time. We just couldn't have gifts!"

"Oh, I get it!"

"You understand something? It's a Hanukkah Miracle!" Peter Rostenkowski said to his older brother.

"Oh, go fu-"

"WILL SOMEBODY GET GRANDPA? THE TURKEY'S NEARLY DONE!" Beulah bellowed from the kitchen.

There were plenty of cheers at this little announcement. Howard handed the baby he'd been holding back to its father who had been waiting patiently for the return of his child for the last twenty minutes. He then went up to his grandfather, but was interrupted by his cell buzzing.

"Hi, Sheldon."

"Something's wrong." Sheldon told him.

"What's wrong?"

Grandpa looked up in worry. "Is it the Nazis?"

"No, Grandpa, they can't find us here. It's my friend, something's bothering him."

"Amy made me feel funny."

"How did she make you feel funny?" Howard asked, taking a seat on the bed. He took up a toy plane and started playing with it. Noticing his grandfather was interested in the conversation, he placed the cell on loudspeaker.

"I had sweaty palms, a fever, and a swooping sensation in my stomach."

"Oh. Anything..else?"

"Well, I felt...throbbing in a very personal area."

Howard couldn't believe it. Was he hearing what he thought he was hearing? He didn't know what to say. Luckily, Grandpa was willing to help.

"Son, you're as horny as a bitch in heat." Grandpa said, matter-of-factly.

Deciding he'd need help explaining things to Sheldon, Howard left the room to call for Bernadette. When he came back with her, having informed her of the situation, his grandfather was explaining what he'd meant. Sheldon didn't believe it for a millisecond.

"Hi, Sheldon, it's Bernie." Bernadette took over the conversation, much to Sheldon's invisible relief.

"Bernadette, please tell this man that.."

"Sweetie, you must have known that one day you would feel something."

"But..I don't want to."

"That's not up to you. Honey, it's natural. Don't be ashamed of it."

"What can I do?"

"Tell her how you feel. She'll be happy knowing how you feel for her and you'll feel much better."

"You promise?"

"I do."

"Alright. Goodnight. Thank you!"

"Goodnight, honey."

"He's growing up." Howard smiled.

"Yeah." Bernadette sighed. Turning to her grandfather-in-law, she said "Turkey's ready."

"I'll be down in a bit, dear."

**We are in for a very eventful Chapter Four! Tune in if you want to, and feel free to drop suggestions, like Tomasina did! Thank you and good day!**

**Love from Shania. xx**


	4. The Gift Dilemma

_**Leonard and Penny**_

"Hey, Leonard?" Penny whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to open yours?"

"OK."

Penny slipped out of the bed she and Leonard were sharing, and padded her way to the living room, hoping she wouldn't wake up Beverley. The last time they'd talked to her, she'd given them a several-hour long lecture on the origins of fetishes. Locating his gift, she snatched it up and ran back to his bedroom.

"Happy Christmas." She said to him, finding his face and kissing it. She handed him the box with a feeling of pride. He was sure to love it.

"Aww, thanks. I'm sorry yours got mixed up. It must have been Howard's gift for Bernadette."

"It's OK. Hurry up, I want to see how much you like it!"

"Alright." He found a gap in the paper and tore at it. "Oh, wow, Penny!"

She'd found a necklace with a pendant on it that looked slightly like the Nobel Prize Medal. It was undoubtedly the tackiest thing Leonard had ever seen. Not wanting to upset her, he put it on and painted a smile on his face and told her how great it was.

"Oh, I knew you'd like it! There's a website that I found, it's like a scientific gift thing and I saw it and I was like 'Leonard could show it off to Sheldon!'"

"Oh, yeah!" If any of the boys saw this, they'd mock him to death. He gave her a kiss and took it off.

"Why are you taking it off?"

"I don't want to break this...wonderful gift. You know, it could snap or something while we're sleeping." Hopefully it would 'accidentally' lose itself before the guys came back and found out about it.

"OK." She pressed her lips against his for several minutes. "Goodnight, Dr. Nobel Prize Winner!"

_**Sheldon and Amy**_

When Sheldon returned to his family, he found they'd started opening their gifts from each other. He had the gift to Amy in his hand and walked over to her, feeling his chest tighten. Dratted human needs and their lousy responses!

"Amy."

"Sheldon. I have your gift with me."

"And I have yours."

"Would you care to open them now or shall we wait?"

"Open them now, shall we?"

"You know I don't care for Yoda speak."

"Fine." He took the weight of Amy's gift into his hands, setting hers down on a nearby table. Opening it, he was shocked by its contents. It wasn't something he'd ever thought he'd possess. It was a boxset of Professor Proton's Show _and it was autographed by him!_

"I see you like it." Amy said, pleased with herself. Sheldon nodded, feeling too overwhelmed to speak.

"Thank you, Amy." Sheldon whispered. He knew his gift to her would be laughable compared to hers to him. Still, he presnted it to her, vowing he would give her a hug if it wasn't enough.

Her eyes widened. "Sheldon!"

His eyes widened too as she held up a slinky, red silk and white furred piece of lingerie.

"Amy, that..."

"Is amazing! Oh, I thought my sexuality was too much for you! I've never been so happy to be wrong!"

"With this, she pulled him down to her level and pressed her lips to his. Sheldon didn't know how to react. He remembered Bernadette had told him to show her how he felt, so he pressured his lips on hers. Tongues were out of the question, he decided. He didn't need Amy's icky tongue germs.

_**Howard and Bernadette**_

"It's present time!" Nana Wolowitz called out. There was plenty of whooping and a stampede as the entire family rushed to the living room.

They didn't open them one person at a time. They simply sat in small groups of husbands and wives, parents and children first and then went to other relatives.

"Happy Hanukkah, Howie." Bernadette said. She giggled. "That's really alliterative."

Before he started opening his gift, he had to ask. "What is it?"

"It's something really good. You'll like it."

Curiosity won and he pulled off the paper to reveal a small shoe box. It didn't feel heavy enough for shoes, though. He opened it to find a smaller box, then a smaller one until he discovered a matchbox. He looked in confusion at her smiling face before pulling it apart.

"A weekend in Paris? Aw, Bernie, that's so sweet."

"And it'll be really romantic. Starlit nights, the Eiffel Tower.."

"Or, as the French say, 'Tour D'Eiffel'."

"Yeah!"

"That's beautiful. Thank you." He leaned forward and kissed her. "Mine seems really crappy in comparison."

"It'll be fine." She laughed.

He shyly handed it over. When she'd opened it up, her eyes lit up. "Oh, wow!"

And, to his surprise, she held up a microscope. A really nice looking one, but he'd not gotten her a microscope. Still, he'd certainly gotten her the amethyst bracelet she was admiring.

"Oh, this is beautiful! Thank you. And you were worrying!"

He decided not to mention to her that he had, in fact gotten something a little bit more sexual than the microscope.

**Oh, my. What will happen when Amy and Bernadette discover their significant others' deceit? Will Penny discover Leonard's true feelings on her gift to him? What are your thoughts on this? Feel free to suggest stuff, I'm all ears. Or should that be eyes?**

**Love from Shania. xx**


	5. The Fear Connection

**Leonard and Penny**

Leonard slowly opened one eye, awakened by a dull thud to his arm. Penny grinned when she saw he was awake.

"About time! I thought you were never gonna wake up!"

"How are _you_ awake before I am?"

"I woke up and couldn't get to sleep."

"Oh, right." He yawned loudly. "Good morning, sweetie."

"Morning." She kissed him lightly on the mouth. "Merry Christmas, honey."

"Oh, God. I forgot it was Christmas. Hey, you wouldn't be open to wearing the kinky suit, would y-?"

"No!" Penny shrieked.

Leonard chuckled at the look of horror that had appeared on his girlfriend's face. She glared at him.

"It's not funny, Leonard." She lay down and propped herself up on her elbow. "I wonder if they know they've gotten the wrong gift yet."

"I dunno. But it's Christmas, let's not worry too much."

"I wonder what your mother's got us."

"Hmm." Leonard couldn't trust himself to be honest. He just knew that Penny would be unhappy by the fact she would have an essay.

She didn't notice Leonard's shifty expression. She smiled brightly and said, "Let's go get breakfast ready!"

About 20 minutes later

Beverley eyed the scene in front of her with growing interest. It was fascinating how _ she_ was the one making mess and not caring and _he_ was the one fussing and cleaning. This, she decided, would make good material in a book detailing the progression of men and women in today's society.

"Good morning." she greeted.

"Morning, Mother."

"Good morning, Bev."

"So," she took a seat where her son's _ wonderful_ roommate usually was. "What are you making?"

"Pancakes." Penny answered, cheerfully dumping the thick mixture into a frying pan.

"I see."

"How many do you want?" Leonard asked.

"One, please."

"Are you sure? We've got plenty."

"That's alright, dear. Leonard told me how you struggle with basic culinary science."

Penny slowly turned her head to face her boyfriend. Leonard froze and looked, panicked, into her eyes.

"Did he?" Penny asked, shaking the pan a lot harder than it needed to be shaken.

"Yes. Now, pasta is supposed to be _soft_. Unless, of course, you're going for an al dente texture."

Penny gave a tight little smile. "Thank you, Bev."

The rest of the morning was spent in silence.

**Sheldon and Amy**

"It's firework time!" One of Sheldon's uncles shouted.

Sheldon stiffened. Amy, who was standing next to him, holding his arm, looked up at him. "What's wrong, baboo?"

"Nothing." Sheldon answered, trying to put on a brave act. "And I'm not fond of being called 'baboo'."

He pointed the way to the backyard and disappeared upstairs. Amy looked after him, confused. Why was Sheldon leaving? Didn't he like fireworks? She joined the rest of the family, marveling at the bright colours and flashes that filled the moonlit, star-studded sky. But it wasn't right. Not without her Shelly. She decided to find him. She remembered where Sheldon had said his room was and went to look there for him first. Pushing open the door, she was shocked by what she found.  
Sheldon was curled up on his childhood bed, jumping violently whenever a firework went 'BANG!' Then she understood his disappearing act. He was scared of fireworks.

"Sheldon?"

"Go away, I don't want you seeing me like this." Sheldon murmured.

"Oh, baboo." She took a seat by him. "It's OK. We've all got fears."

"It's a dumb fear. What kind of a _man_ is afraid of fireworks?"

"What kind of a _woman_ is afraid of the dark?"

"_You're_ afraid of the _ dark_?"

"Yes."

"Well, that's understandable. You can't see what's in the dark, which is why so many are afraid of it. It's a survival defence."

"And some are afraid of loud noises because it sounds like a predator in some primitive part of their minds. It's not dumb, Sheldon."

He moved to sit up. He didn't say anything, but took her hand. That gesture said it all.

"Amy?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you watch the fireworks with me?"

"I'd love to."

He smiled fondly at her, the expression making her heart flip. She got up and opened his door.

"What are you doing?"

"I thought we were going to watch the fireworks."

"From _here_. I don't need all those people breathing their germs on me."

**Howard and Bernadette**

"Howie, why don't you want to see your grandmother?" Bernadette asked.

They were alone in an abandoned part of the house. From what they could hear, the people outside their room were having a pretty good time. Grandpa had gone to visit his wife, who lived in a nursing home about a mile away, and it confused Bernadette as to why Howard hadn't wanted to visit her.

"I do, it's just..She was taken during the war. Now she's all quiet, like she's too scared to talk to us. It's selfish to avoid her, but.. it's really sad and...scary.."

"Aw." She slipped her arms around her husband. "I'm sorry, honey."

"Do you want to meet her?"

"Honestly, yeah I would."

"I'll take her to meet her one day. Maybe New Year's."

She beamed up at him. "Thank you."

He smiled down at her, threading his fingers through her golden locks. "Nana used to have blonde hair. Grandpa told me."

They stayed in peaceful solitude for a few moments and were interrupted by Joey who burst in and told them it was 'Dreidel time'.

"I've never played Dreidel." Bernadette told Howard. "How do you play?"

"Well, you're given 14 pieces of _gelt_, which is usually chocolate coins in this household. The dreidel, is an object which you spin around. It has four letters on it, and what letter you get determines what happens to the _gelt._ "

"What letters are there?" Joey asked.

"_Nun_ which means you don't have to do anything with your _gelt. Gimmel_, that means you get all the _ gelt_ that's been lost by the other players. _Halb_ which means you give up half your _gelt_ and _Shin_, meaning you just put one piece in."

"In what?"

"Oh, there's a pot you put your lost _gelt_ in. The winner gets the whole pot. Once you've lost all your pieces, you're out."

"It sounds like gambling." Bernadette told him, nervously. "I'm not sure my parents would like it."

"They don't have to play. Most of us don't. Usually, it's me, Mom, Grandpa, a couple of cousins and maybe an aunt or uncle."

"I'm playing." Bernadette told him.

Joey and Howard exchanged a worried look, knowing how competitive she was.

Under his breath, Joey muttered. "Someone's ending up in hospital."

**Will he be right? Who will win the Dreidel game? Incidentally, Dreidel sounds really awesome! Will Sheldon join his family for some holiday fun? Will Penny forgive Leonard for going behind her back and telling his mother she's a bad cook?** **Who knows! As always, reviews are welcome and I hope you enjoyed! Peace out!**

**Love from Shania. xx**


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